Method and means for handling excavated material



L. A. MILLER Aug. 15, 1933.

METHOD AND MEANS FOR HANDLING EXCAVATED MATERIAL Filed July 28, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 l AJ 1 als Aug. 15, 1933. l.. A. MILLER 1,922,972

METHOD AND MEANS FOR HANDLING EXCVATED MATERIAL v Filed July 28, 1931 5 SheetS-Sheekl 2 Aug 15, 1933- L. A. MILLER 1,922,972

METHOD AND MEANS FOR HANDLING EXCAVATED MATRIAL Filed July 28, 1931 s sheets-sheet s INVENTOR ooacz's lle?" TTORNEY ,but

Patented ug. 15, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT oI-FICE Mirrnon AND MEANS FOR HANDLING l EXCAVATED MATERIAL Louis A. Miller, Kansas City, Mo. yApplication July 28, 1931. Serial No. 553,615

v s Claims. (01.198--229 The invention relates to the handling of excavated material and has for its general object the provision oi' a novel method together with a combination of means for the purpose whereby the cost oi making fills, etc., etc. Will be greatly reduced.

It is well known that at present the system of handling excavated material in connection with construction work, where power shovels and other digging apparatusare employed, involves the laying oi a track upon which dump or other cars are run. Wagons, trucks, and in fact hauling apparatus of many kinds are also employed to convey excavated material from the point of loading to where it is to be discharged, that is to say placed in an embankment or wasted, and where Vcuts have to be made through a hill and the material taken therefrom` to make an em bankment, or what is commonly called a fill the custom is to build a trestle and run the cars thor-conto and keep discharging the material therefrom until the fill or embankment attains i trestle which usually lei't in the embankment The pressure of the trestle einhankmentV irequently very undersirabie it is not feasible to remove it after it has become embedded in the material i dis* charged. It is also known that it frequently occurs that where a road, fill-'or embankment is to be created between two points, material to make the fill is not available from either or end and it therefore becomes necessary to establish in the whatyis commonly called a borrow pit from which the necessary material procured Vlin some instances this may mean that the material would have to be hauled from a low point to the top of the till or embankment. tioned con igency may or may not involve the use av trestle but in any event problems to be met are difcult to solve and great expense unavoidable when the material is handled by ordinary methods. v

It is with the above facts in View that I have devised the present invention which contemplates providing a method of handling excavated material involving the employment of a sectional chute which may be laid simply upon the surface of the ground as needed and which extends from the point of loading to the point of discharge without any need for a trestle, the chute itself serving as a track upon which may be operated au appropriate locomotive or the like equipped with means for dragging or bulldozing the material along the chute.

An important object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for this purpose in which the chute may be equipped with racks cooperating with gears on the locomotive so as to insure traction and overcome the frictional resistance to movement of the load along the chute. l

Another object is to provide an apparatus of this type in which the locomotive may be equipped with crane means not only for raising and lowering the Scrapers or bulldozers but also'for handling the chute sections necessary to be placed in position as the distance between thev points of loading and discharge increases or when the chute is to be disassembled.

`A` further object is to provide an apparatus in `which the chute may have an inlet at its side so that the locomotive, if of the bulldozer type, may be run over the point of loading the chute, such being, however, unnecessary if the locomotive be equipped with hoe-like Scrapers instead of bulldozing means.

A more specic object is to provide an apparatus embodying a sectional chute of novel for- `the method and combination of apparatus for carrying it out to be hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

, Figure 1 is a sectional view showing a chute with a locomotive operating along it, Y

Figure 2 is a cross section taken on the line 2--2 of Figure land looking in the direction of the arrows,

Figure 3 `is a cross section taken on the line 3 3 of Figure 1 and looking inthe same direction,

I Figure 4 is a side elevation of one section of a convenient chute,

Figure `5 is a cross section therethrough taken on the line 5--5 of Figure 4, I

Figure 6 is an enlarged detail section through the upper edge of the chute. Figure 7 is a side elevation of what is shown in Figure 6,

Figure 8 is a cross section through a railroad track showing an elevated conveyor arrangement for conducting material across,

Figure 9 is a view showing a method of carrying out the invention if the railroad be on yan embankment, and

Figure 10 is a diagrammatic plan view showing a method of avoiding obstructions.

At the very outset it should be distinctly understood that the basic idea of my invention is not dependent upon the use of any specific or denite type of apparatus, except of course in some particulars, as it is readily conceivable that a large number of instrumentalities may be resorted to for accomplishing the desired result. However, I have illustrated and will describe a certain arrangement of parts and devices which will cooperate to carry out my invention with a high degree of success.

Referring more particularly to the drawings I have illustrated a chute designated as a whole by the numeral 10, and this chute is formed of sections 11 one of which is illustrated in considerable detail in Figures f1 to 7. rEhis chute is intended to be laid upon the ground, without any preliminary foundation, and is to serve itself as a trackway along which any suitable haulage devices may be operated. Thesections are laid end to end and are detachably connected in such manner that the entire assembly will be more or less flexible so as not to be distorted aszthe result of irregularities in the contour oi the ground.

While, as mentioned above, the construction or the chute might be varied, I have shown each section 11 as comprising horizontal channel bars 12 located at the ends and to which are secured upright channel bars 13 and 1li, the latter being located inwardly of the former. The uprights 13 and 14 are provided at each end of each horizontal bar 12 and are braced by diagonally arranged angle bars ll5 secured to the bars 13 and 14 and also the bars 12. Secured upon the upper ends of the uprights 14 are Z-bars 16 upon which are preferably provided rail elements 17 secured in place as by bolts llwhich pass through them and through the horizontal portions of the Z- bars. Located between the upper vertical flanges of the Z-bars and the inner faces of the uprghts 13 are racks 19 secured in place as by bolts 20. This constitutes the framework. The body of the chute section comprises a preferably substantially semicylindrical shell 2l secured at its bottom to the channel bars 12, as shown at 22, secured at its intermediate portions to the braces 15, as shown at 23, and secured to the uprights 14 and lower vertical flanges of the Z-bars 16,

- as shown at 2li. The rack barV 19 is intended to break joint with the remainder of the chute section and is therefore shown as having one end terminating short oi the end of the section and its other end provided with an extension 25 formed with a hole 26.

As mentioned above, the chute sections are intended to be laid upon the ground in end to end relation and when this is done bolts are passed through holes 2'7 in the upper ends of the uprights 13 and Z-bars 16 at oneend of each section and through the holes 26 in the adjacent ends of the rack barsof the next section.. In order not to rely entirely upon these bolts forholding the sections assembled, I may provideV one end of each section with pivoted hooks V23 adapted to engage keepers 29 on the adjacent end of the next section. By virtue of this arrangement it is clear that the successive sections may have limited relative vertical movement so as to avoid damage in the event that the chute is laid upon an uneven or rolling surface.

It is intended that some suitable sort of locomotive or other traction device, indicated at 30, be operated along and upon this chute for the purpose of dragging material from the point where it is loaded into the chute to the point Where it isy desired for instance to make a iill as indicatedV at A in Figure 1. Naturally there is no limitation as to the exact form of traction or haulage device but it is necessarily equipped with wheels '31 which travel along the track bars 17. Though it might not always be necessary it `is preferably that the Wheel axles, at least the driving axle, be equipped with gears 32 meshing with the rack bars 19; Incidentally it might also be mentioned that the rack bars 19 need not be provided at both sides of the chute as one is probably suiiicient to'prevent slipping of the wheels with respect to the chute and as a matter of fact Figure 5'shows only one gear 32 and one rack bar 19. It should be understood though that the structure can be duplicated at both sides of the chute if desired. Naturally the intention is that material excavated by cutting down an embankment or procured from a borrow pit be deposited by any suitable means within the chute so that the material may be conveyed along it by means of the locomotive. In the present instance the locomotive is represented as of the bulldozer' type, that is to say it is equipped with pivoted beams 33 carrying a head 34 of scraperlike form fitting more or less closely within the shell oi the chute. These beams are represented as provided with curved arms 35 travelling through guides 36. The beams 33 carrying the head or scraper are of course vertically movable and may be held in elevated or lowered position by the inserting some suitable pin, bolt or the like through holes 37 in the guides 36 and through selected ones of other holes 38 in the arms 35. To effect raising and lowering of the beams and scraper the locomotive is preferably provided with a crane, structure including supports 39 carrying a pulley l0 over which is trained a cable il Vconnected at one end with the head or scraper 34 and having its other end secured to and wound upon a drum 42 adapted to be rotated by the transmission mechanism of a locomotive. By this means itis very simple to lift thescraper device when the load is discharged into the lill A and it is desired to return the locomotive idly to the point or loading of the chute so that the scraper will not strike against the material dumped into the chute.

Instead oi the locomotive being of the bulldozer type as described it is quite evident that it may just as easily be of the scraper type, that is .to say instead of pushing the load it may pull it` In such an event beams similar to the beams 33 would be provided carrying a hoe-like scraper, or gangy of Scrapers, trailing behind the locomotive. The advantage of the bulldozer type is that the load may be pushed directly off the end oi the chute into the iill as illustrated in Figure l whereas ii the scraper type is used such could not be done as the material would be left at a point spaced considerably short of the end of the chute, thus necessitating that it, the material, be shoveled oir. Referring to Figure 1 the discharging position of the locomotive is shown'in dot and dash lines at Br. The normal position of the scraper or bulldozer 34 is shown in full lines -while A PP Lezama is illustrated at its elevated or inactive position C by dot and dash lines'.

type it is clear that the material where thecut is made maybe deposited within the chute by the simple expedient of dumping' itin by meansof a power shovel, conveyor `oranything else for the reason that the locomotive itself does not have to pass over thematerial, only the trailing scraper passing over, this latter causing `no difficulty as it is a simple matter to liftV whatever scraperr is provided.` However, when the bulldozer type is used it is obvious that it -could not very well run over the materialfcharged into the chute unless care be taken that the material does not pile up above the top. In View of these circumstances I may resort', if desired, to the use otmeans for charging the chute from theside instead of the top and atthe right of Figure 1 and alsoin Figures 2' and 3 I have shown a chute section i3 in which the shell is :formed withan opening 44 through which material may'pass intothe chute through an upstanding loading chute or funnellike device 115 located at the side in position to have material dumped directly into it by any means, for instance the conveyor shown at 46. Material introduced within the chute'by this means will not project above thetop and will consequently not clog the trackways and racks so that the bulldozer type of locomotive may be'used. In actual use, it should be understood Vthat after the locomotive has discharged a load into the fill it is run back along-the sectional chute with the scraper membcrfand its'beams in elevated position, until the entire traction device `passes over the material fed into the chute and reaches the position indicated by'dot and dash lines at D, whereupon the beamstogether with the scraper head are lowered so that upon forward movement of the locomotivethe charge ofmaterial will be 'forced' along the 'chute to the discharge end.V In

"'betused, operating in relays', one dragging the load certain distance and another picking it up and. dragging, it or bulldozing it the vremaining distance or a Vportion of' the remaining distance after' which yet' another may come into play, the reason for this being that the event that the distance between the point of loading and discl'largo very great the material accumulating at the loading point might become too great while the "previous charge is 'being forced along the chute by the locomotive. In other words it would appearthat for rapid actionthe longer the chute the greater should be the number' of traction devices` operating along it. l

By virtue of the provision of the crane vdevice on the locomotive it becomes a simple mattei' to build on to the chute as the ill A 'becomes filled up. As the material discharged from the chute builds up within the ll and the surface becomes level with the surface at the end of the chute an additional chute section must be placed in position and the crane above referred to permits this to be done in a simple and expeditious manner.

In thev use of my system and apparatus it is of course to be considered that like with all other systems there is the possibility that it is necessary to carry the load over a road, highway, railroad track or the like, in which event it is easily conceivable that an elevated conveyor 4'? might be provided onto which' the material might be discharged from the chute-48 and which could be utilized for conducting the material to a similar chute 49 located at the other sideof the `obstruction; This is illustrated in Figure 8 wherein a railroad track is shown in section at 50. If the railroad A51 be on an embankment 52 as shown in Figure'9, atunnel 53 may be cut for the passage of the chute 54. 1 i

Y From'theiforegoing `description and a study of the drawings it will be apparent that I have thus provided-an extremelysimple method and combinationoiapparatus for the rapid and eii'ective handling of excavated material land the likef It `will be observed that there is no necessity Whatsoever for building any trestle as the chute is in- Y tances are charged Afor on a basis of units of kone hundred feet.

Clearly the greatest possible reduction in the distance will result in the veryleast cost per cubic yardV of material hand-led. Another point well worthy of `mention is that by `the employment of my chute system it might be conceivable, if the terrain sorequires, toprovide a plurality of sectionalchutes arranged'at different angles and discharging oneY into anotherfas shown diagrammatically at 55, 56 and 57 in Figure l0, each of course having its own locomotive or locomotives. By this means `an insurmountable obstruction might be avoided in a simple manner.` It is really believed that the carrying-out, operation and advantages of my scheme will be apparent to oneA skilledin the art without further explanation. i

" 'While IA have shownand described a'preferred embodiment of the inventionand have made certain definite-references to detailed features,` it should be understood. thatthe disclosure is merely an exemplification of the principles involved as thearight isreserved to make all such changes in.

the details of construction as will widen the eld of utility and increase the adaptability of the device provided such changes constitute no departure from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

l. In a system for handling excavated mate-v rial, thel combination of a sectional chute adapted to be laid upon the ground to extend from a loading .point to a point where discharge-of material is desired, and a power operated traction device travelling along the chute as a track and equipped with means entering the chute for moving material therealong, the chute having lateral inletl selected distances. and means carried by the traction devices and entering the chute for moving material therealong, the chute having a lateral inlet entirely below its upper edge. Y

3. An apparatus for handling excavated material, comprising'in combination, a SectionaLself supporting chute adapted to be laid directly upon the openground from a loading point to a point where discharge of material is desired, a power. operated traction device travelling along the chute asa track and equipped with a scraper member entering the chute for movingmaterial therealong, and coasting rack and pinion means on the chute and traction device for preventing slipping orn the latter-withrespect to lthe former during its travel, the rack means on the successive chute sections being pivotally connectedwhereby the sections may gravitationally conform to irregularities in the terrain. v v f `4. In a system for handling excavated material, the combination of a chute adapted to be of to avoid interference with the traction devices,l

and constituting the loading point.

5. In an apparatus for handling excavated'material, a chute adapted to be laid upon the 'ground to extend between a loading point and a point where discharge of material is desired, said chute ,being formed of sections arranged in end to end relation and flexibly connected, each section comprising a skeletonY frame `including horizontal Z-bars having upper and lower vertical iianges and a horizontal web connecting the same, a substantially semicylindrical shell mounted therein and secured tothe lower vertical flanges, a'bar onv the web serving as a rail, anda rack secured to the upper vertical flange. v v

6. In an apparatus for handling excavated material, a chute adapted to` be laid upon vthe ground to extend between a loading point and a point where discharge of material is desired, said chute being formed of sections arranged in end to. end relation and flexibly connected, each section comprising a skeleton frame and a substantially semicylindrical shell mounted therein, and a rack bar carried by Ieach section anddetachably and pivotally connected with the next adjacent vsection and adapted to serve as slippage preventing means for a traction device movable along the chute as a track. Y v- Y 7. In an apparatus for handling excavated material, a chute adapted tofbe laidupon the ground to extend between a loading pointand a point where discharge of material is desired,saidv chute` being formed of sections arranged in end to end relation and flexibly connected, each section comprising a skeleton frame and a substantially semicylindrical shell mounted therein, and a rack bar carried by each section and detachably connected with the next adjacent section and adapt- Yed to serve as slippage preventing means for a traction device movable along the chute as a track, said rack bars projecting beyond one end of each section. and terminating short of the other end whereby to break joint with the end portions of the sections..

8. A chute of the character described comprising a plurality of connected sections each comprising a skeleton frameY including horizontal bottom bars, vertical bars rising therefrom, a substantially semicylindrical shell located within the confines of said frame and secured to the bottom bars, Z-bars mounted on the upper ends of the vertical bars and including upper and lower vertical flanges connected by a horizontal web, said lower vertical flanges being secured to the upper endsvof the vertical barsy and the upper edge portions of the shell, .upwardly converging braces secured to said bottom bars, upwardly diver-ging braces secured to the lower bars,

the vertical bars and iirst named braces and also secured to the shell, a rack bar secured to each vupper vertical iiange and to the upper ends of the iirst named braces, one end of each rack bar terminating short of the shell and the other end projecting beyond the other end of the shell whereby a plurality of the sections may be connected in series.

9. A chute of the character described comprising a plurality of connected sections each comprising a skeleton frame including horizontal bottom bars, vertical bars rising therefrom, a substantially semicylindrical shell located within the confines of said frame and secured to the bottom bars, Z-bars mounted on the upper ends of the vertical bars and including upper and lower vertical iianges connected by a horizontal web, said lower vertical angesbeing secured to the upper ends of the Vvertical bars and the upper edge portions of the shell, upwardly convergingbraces secured to said bottom bars, upwardly diverging braces secured to the lower bars, the vertical bars and first named braces and also secured to the shell, a rack bar secured to each upper vertical iiange and to the upper ends of the first named braces, one end of each rack bar terminatingshort of the shell and the other end projecting beyond the other end ofthe shell whereby a plurality of the sections may be oonnected in series, a hook pivoted upon one end of each section, and a keeper on the adjacent'end of the next section engageable by the hook whereg by a plurality or the sections may be flexibly connected and enabled to conform substantially to the terrain.

LOUIS A. MILLER. 

